DIY oil changers thought I'd share

 

I did rebates every year until the pandemic where since we weren't driving, why buy any more oil. Usually I have about 4 5 qt jugs in the garage ready to go.

In 2022, I did my first rebate again since 2019.

net net? A 5 qt jug of Pennzoil Platinum synthetic is $9.11 incl. tax.

For each qty 2 five quart jugs you buy, you get a $25 gift card.

I bought qty 4 five quart jugs, and got 2x$25 gift cards.

It's so easy you don't even have to leave your house lol

amazon is included in the rebate, so I ordered qty 4 from amazon.

The day after the jugs were delivered, I simply uploaded my receipt to the portal.

3 weeks later I got the emails congrats you got a $25 gift card (times 2).

I followed the links, and redeemed for 2x$25 amazon gift cards. They came instantly via email, and I uploaded to amazon.

It's a 3 week painless wait for processing. imho no brainer?

Here's the promotion, hope someone out there saves some $

https://www.pennzoil.com/en_us/promotions/do-it-yourself-oil...

note: what's changed since 3 years ago, is the $25 is not cash (it used to be a check), it's a gift card of I guess of over 100 merchants. Because I'm a amazon customer, it's as good as cash to me. Just wanted to point that out.

Gift cards seem to be the newest currency

johnnatash4 wrote:

I did rebates every year until the pandemic where since we weren't driving, why buy any more oil. Usually I have about 4 5 qt jugs in the garage ready to go.

In 2022, I did my first rebate again since 2019.

net net? A 5 qt jug of Pennzoil Platinum synthetic is $9.11 incl. tax.

For each qty 2 five quart jugs you buy, you get a $25 gift card.

I bought qty 4 five quart jugs, and got 2x$25 gift cards.

It's so easy you don't even have to leave your house lol

amazon is included in the rebate, so I ordered qty 4 from amazon.

The day after the jugs were delivered, I simply uploaded my receipt to the portal.

3 weeks later I got the emails congrats you got a $25 gift card (times 2).

I followed the links, and redeemed for 2x$25 amazon gift cards. They came instantly via email, and I uploaded to amazon.

It's a 3 week painless wait for processing. imho no brainer?

Here's the promotion, hope someone out there saves some $

https://www.pennzoil.com/en_us/promotions/do-it-yourself-oil...

note: what's changed since 3 years ago, is the $25 is not cash (it used to be a check), it's a gift card of I guess of over 100 merchants. Because I'm a amazon customer, it's as good as cash to me. Just wanted to point that out.

Gift cards seem to be the newest currency. The preferred currency for scammers. Totally untraceable.
Mark

sounds like

an oxymoron to me--gift card, scam.

Scammers give out gift cards? lol

What I think it is

a) costs less (you can get gift cards at Costco for 20% less than face value)

b) it's absolutely traceable as to where it was issued, and to what account it was applied (in amazon's case)

To each his own.

When hourlies need to travel for my co., they are advanced cash cards to be able to rent cars and purchase meals and hotels. My employer is not a scammer lol

Scammers

johnnatash4 wrote:

an oxymoron to me--gift card, scam.

Scammers give out gift cards? lol

What I think it is

a) costs less (you can get gift cards at Costco for 20% less than face value)

b) it's absolutely traceable as to where it was issued, and to what account it was applied (in amazon's case)

To each his own.

When hourlies need to travel for my co., they are advanced cash cards to be able to rent cars and purchase meals and hotels. My employer is not a scammer lol

I believe he is referring to buying and sending the gift card to the scammer for the dubious payments they demanded.

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

That would be…

phranc wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

an oxymoron to me--gift card, scam.

Scammers give out gift cards? lol

What I think it is

a) costs less (you can get gift cards at Costco for 20% less than face value)

b) it's absolutely traceable as to where it was issued, and to what account it was applied (in amazon's case)

To each his own.

When hourlies need to travel for my co., they are advanced cash cards to be able to rent cars and purchase meals and hotels. My employer is not a scammer lol

I believe he is referring to buying and sending the gift card to the scammer for the dubious payments they demanded.

…my supposition!

--
With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

sorry

not clear on if this is a joke, or where the scam is taking place lol.

Paying full price is fine to avoid what one perceives as a scam.

plenty here in NM

johnnatash4 wrote:

not clear on if this is a joke, or where the scam is taking place lol.

There is a weekly column in the local paper here in Albuquerque both describing and alerting people to currently active scams.

A remarkably frequent element is that the scammer poses as a serious authority (police, IRS, Federal Reserve{?!} ...) and somehow persuades the victim that the records show them as owing money, that something bad will happen to them if they don't settle up right away, and that the method to settle up which is available to them is to hustle right down to Target or some other place, buysome gift cards, and transmit the credentials to the scammer.

Astonishing as it may seem, lots of people fall for this, month after month.

I myself somewhat commonly get robo phone calls which I suspect of being the first step in such a scam, informing me in stentorian tones that a law suit has been or is about to be filed against me, and that I should press 1 to speak to an agent to resolve the matter.

--
personal GPS user since 1992

I've had many rebates where

I've had many rebates where the payback is via gift card. I'll redeem the card usually the same or next day on some entity that accepts credit card numbers and allows a dollar amount to be set.

Most recently I apply them to my shipping costs (pirateship.com). Other cards I've applied to utility bills (which locally no longer charge a processing fee).

This way the funds are not lost/forgotten.

I recently bought a new phone….

archae86 wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

not clear on if this is a joke, or where the scam is taking place lol.

There is a weekly column in the local paper here in Albuquerque both describing and alerting people to currently active scams.

A remarkably frequent element is that the scammer poses as a serious authority (police, IRS, Federal Reserve{?!} ...) and somehow persuades the victim that the records show them as owing money, that something bad will happen to them if they don't settle up right away, and that the method to settle up which is available to them is to hustle right down to Target or some other place, buysome gift cards, and transmit the credentials to the scammer.

Astonishing as it may seem, lots of people fall for this, month after month.

I myself somewhat commonly get robo phone calls which I suspect of being the first step in such a scam, informing me in stentorian tones that a law suit has been or is about to be filed against me, and that I should press 1 to speak to an agent to resolve the matter.

…that filters my phone calls. In the past six or so weeks that I have had the phone, only 5 or 6 calls have gotten through. The rest of them, (which can be as many as 10 a day,) get bounced to who knows where. Well worth the money that I paid for it.

--
With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

especially

zx1100e1 wrote:

I've had many rebates where the payback is via gift card. I'll redeem the card usually the same or next day on some entity that accepts credit card numbers and allows a dollar amount to be set.

Most recently I apply them to my shipping costs (pirateship.com). Other cards I've applied to utility bills (which locally no longer charge a processing fee).

This way the funds are not lost/forgotten.

With professional ones, all gift cards. Because if a check were to be cut it would need to be made out to my employer and a hassle for AP.

Our co. has a limit of $50 that is allowed to be accepted as a gift, but the unspoken rule is sports tickets. If a vendor gives us suite tix plus free parking, we all know the value is over $50. It's acceptable. Also I see people accepting merchandise that is clearly worth more than $50 (high sierra backpacks, Nike Dri Fit, etc. etc.).

To each his own. These days the IRS takes 8 calendar days to issue a direct deposit refund, and legit cos can issue a rebate in 3 weeks. Gone is the 6-8 weeks.

And to be honest? In my entire life of getting rebates, there were only 2X that I never got them. And 1/2 of those times? Months later after I emailed that I never got it? They issued 2 rebates, I think in error. One to make up for it, probably one that was triggered as a result of my inquiry.

Not "everything" in life is a scam lol

About 15 years ago a telco co. gave us $10,000, in American Express gift cheques. I had to find out if that's allowable for us to accept it, and was told by my employer it "is." I was very popular that year giving out $500 at a time to 20 people in our dept.

Treasurers and comptrollers out there know why a corp would send another corp AMEX instead of a check made out to AP (I don't).

At any rate, the moral of the story is I'd bend over to pick up a $50 bill if I saw one laying on the sidewalk. Many I get it, don't need to, and who knows, it could be candid camera and a trick....

The New Virtual Cash

You are correct.

I routinely

get surveys at work that have 3 questions and take all of 1 min to answer.

Then I get a $20 gift card. Do I wish it were $300 like the old days? Of course. But the old days, we also waited 8 weeks wondering if we're going to get it (again in my entire life it has only happened 2X that I didn't get something I was supposed to).

And the way it works now is in about 3-5 business days, an email comes saying congrats here's your gift card, and it is almost always from Tango (make sure your co. spam program has it whitelisted, at your level).

The email has a link to the security code. When you follow the link to claim the gift card, the security code is needed, then it has an amazon code (what I choose). I go to the amazon account and simply add it.

There are several layers here of multi-factor authentication. And I get it, I do. Some say I'm not going to get scammed for $20. Or $50. He** I don't even need the money.

Just throwing it out there, I'm not pushing money on people who don't need it and trying to put them at risk. ymmv